Lj.М. Solak was born in 1975, in Skopje (North Macedonia). She studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts / Graphics in Skopje, and currently, works as a professor of Fine Arts in High School and Atelier Solak. She has participated in many study stays (in Istanbul, Athens, Sofia, Bucharest, Paris, Jerusalem, Ljubljana, Florence, Thessaloniki); and, so far, has presented her work in 15 solo exhibitions (in Bitola, Skopje, Sofia, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, and Athens) and in more than 200 group exhibitions and events in North Macedonia and abroad. She is a member of DLUM, DLUB, ICOMOS, honorary member of Femin Art – Trabzon Turkey, and from 2014-2016 is President of DLUB, and Vice President of the French Alliance 2021-2024. From 2014 to 2018, she worked on projects for arranging shop windows of world fashion brands in Dubai UAE. Also, she is the winner of several awards.
Painter and graphic artist – Ljubica draws landscapes as an important motif and personal stamp that is connected very personally and intimately with the character and temperament and the perception of author-nature. Quite expressive, expressively colourful, Ljubica provides incomparable insight into her paintings, in which landscape and abstraction are not opposed to each other, but instead appear as intertwined threads in the view of the painter and her experience with reality.
Ljubica participated in the Art Residency that took place in Bitola (North Macedonia) from 22 October 2018 to 22 November 2018, and focused on the local events of the First World War (Macedonian Front) and their impact in the local community.
One of the most beautiful experiences, hanging out with wonderful friends, making new ones, gaining new knowledge and new opportunities for future collaborations, traveling to new places… and I would like to participate in many more such projects, most sincerely and from the heart!
What if we do not have the power to change the flow of the events in our lives, the past?… What if we are helpless witnesses of the happenings around us? Some of them saw a lot, survived a lot, were forced into situations that could not be even imagined, but they have been through and they were victims of one big war.
In a world where oblivion is easily accepted, art is the one that should turn the attention to the memory of the victims of the great massacre in the history of humanity – the victims of the First World War.
These artworks are dedicated to the thousands of victims that went through this horrible interference.
The compositions divided as diptych and triptych represent the Treaty of Versailles between the former involved warring sides, Entente Cordiale and Germany. The Treaty did not achieve its basic aim, and hence, the dissatisfaction and reactions continued for several years later, culminating in a new world war.
The existing documents (signatures of leaders, contracts, written texts and photographs) penetrate Ljubica’s visual narration, reminding us of that cruel reality. Symbolically, but also approximately authentically, with graphic presentation, language and symbols, she represents “the decisions and destiny” of a terrible past.
This second set of artworks (diptych-print collage combined technique) is actually based on a story retold by the grandnephew of a soldier from Bitola who participated in the First World War. The story is supported by data, cards, photos and letters, which motivated Ljubica to try and express this experience in her own way, through her vision and empathy, with the hope to create a reminder and send a message: Not to be repeated ever again.
The digital and digitised outcomes of the ECHO project are in copyright. We publish them on the ECHO II website only for communication and dissemination purposes. We’ll do our best to open them up as soon as possible, in collaboration with the project partners, the artists-in-residence, and any other rights-holders. If -in the meantime- you want to reuse these materials, don’t hesitate to contact us.